In mid-June 1992, Marija Maric lost her uncle, who was killed along with 113 civilians in Mostar, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
On June 13th, 1992, Serb paramilitaries liquidated Bosniak and Croat civilians at the Uborak and Sutina sites, aided by regular and reserve units of the then Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), RSE writes.
More than a hundred Mostar residents from several urban and suburban settlements were taken from their homes in mid-June, thirty years ago. Most of them were gathered in the atomic shelter in the settlement of Zalik, after which they were taken in an unknown direction.
Bodies found in mass graves
A few months later, mass graves with their bodies were discovered in the area of the city landfill Uborak, and in the locality of Sutina north of Mostar.
Waiting 30 years for justice and sanctioning those responsible, the families of civilian victims of the war also expect the city authorities to take a step to pay tribute to those killed.
In cooperation with the Association of Families of Victims Killed in Uborak and Sutina in 1992, they launched an initiative to declare June 13th as the Day of Civilian Victims of the Mostar War.
A common monument?
The initiative to mark a joint day in honor of civilian victims was preceded by a proposal to erect a joint monument, which was also supported by the OSCE Mission to BiH. But the idea has not been realized to date.
Marija, from the beginning of the story, believes that these initiatives represent a significant step in the process of reconciliation in a city that is still dominated by ethnic divisions.
”It is a city that is divided in some way, but I hope that initiatives like this have a chance. It would be good to start something. Just so the victims have that day to commemorate. If they ‘fell’ it should be known why. Injustice is the biggest problem today,”says Marija, a member of the Association of Citizens of Civilian Victims of Mostar War.
E.Dz.
